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Hi everyone...I have just recently purchased a BMW 318i E30 1991 in complete original condition with less then 190000kms. My aim is to completely work this car while storing the original parts so it can be brought back to showroom.

Anyway, I will be getting a 2 1/4 inch exhaust put on it soon as well as a K&N cold air intake (???) on it. Will be aiming at putting 16x8's (???) and suspension change soon.

Basically, what would you do with an original one of these? First time I've had one of these cars so I'm looking for opinions on what I should do with the engine and performance and some advice on what you found worked well for you!!

318's were never fast. Small engine - heavy car. I would suggest that 8" is too wide - will foul steering etc and can bugger up suspensionn settings. If you want 'fast' get a 323. To make your veh reliable change all hoses and belts and do a FULL Inspection 2 service plus brake system overhaul. That will also allow you to find all the other parts that have worn out (engine mounts, drive shaft rubber coupling etc.). Once that is done then you can try stiffer shocks etc to up the handling. The illusion of speed as you don't slow down as much for corners.
A good 4 wheel agligment and rear suspension adjustable mount kit should give you the result you seek.

What would I do with a good original 318? Restore it, join a club, show it and win prizes.

thanks and yeah I understand what you guys are saying. Thats why Im going to keep anything I take off it so when it becomes a vintage I can put it back to stock standard showroom. One of the reasons why I purchased it. But at the moment I don't know if it excites me enough to leave as is which is why i think im going to have some fun with it.

That car will be 'Post Vintage' in 3.5 yrs approx. IMO it would take that time to go from a DD to a show winner, as a rolling restoration. Drive and enjoy it - Join a club and show it - Some BMW Clubs run track days (see how good you really are!). Cruise it - but please don't make it into a rice grinder clone.

haha no way will I turn it into a rice grinder!! I have never been a fan of those type of cars. Whatever I do to it, I hope I will still be able to keep the BMW character of it. Thats why I bought it in the first place!

Stay away from the CAI you won't see any gains in fact you will probably lose some power over the factory airbox, trust me the BMW technicians new what they were doing. Save that money and use it for your maintenance. Have fun.

Stay away from the CAI you won't see any gains in fact you will probably lose some power over the factory airbox, trust me the BMW technicians new what they were doing. Save that money and use it for your maintenance. Have fun.

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What he said. If you go for K&N, just get the drop in filter. Keep the factory airbox

Thank for the advice on the CAI. Have you guys tried this before in the past? While I do trut the BMW engineers, the current setup appears it would have a turbulent airflow from outside the car to the engine. Where the CAI's seem to be able to change this to a straight airflow while still keeping the AFM, etc.

Thank for the advice on the CAI. Have you guys tried this before in the past? While I do trut the BMW engineers, the current setup appears it would have a turbulent airflow from outside the car to the engine. Where the CAI's seem to be able to change this to a straight airflow while still keeping the AFM, etc.

Yes actually I have tried it before I knew better anyway haha. The factory airbox is designed that way to keep the hot engine air out of the intake. You could of course run a CAI that either has a pod filter with heat shield or one that relocates the pod filter out below the existing airbox usually lower to suck in cold air from outside. However this will still not gain any more power than the factory airbox, best case scenario 2-3hp but you could also lose hp. And remember unless you increase the engine power by 10% or more you're not going to feel any change when you're on the road.

But hey it's your car do what you want, they do look better and have a mad intake sucking sound.

The factory airbox is designed that way to keep the hot engine air out of the intake

I have been selling K&N's for over 20 years and have a Dyno for testing.
K&N has a climate Cell Dyno.
Why not look at their Website
On the 325 the Apollo makes a nice difference in Hp & fuel consumption figures

hey Nick. Thanks mate and the CAI I was looking at was the K&N one. The K&N CAI does make sense to me. It runs a straight line to the engine and the intake is in the grill above the road (this matters in Australia!!) as opposed to the factory that sucks off the road and takes an S-path to the engine. What is the difference between the square and circle K&N CAI for the E30?

However, its my first 318i and I have had no experience with it like you guys have had.

Some VAF have square & other round intake plumbing.
Your dust is similar to our in Africa So I know hat you are talking about.
Even worse is when you cross water & suck this through your engine VW lost a lot of GTi's that way when they were introduced yeaaaaars back !
If it was my car I'd just fit the panel replacement K&N unless you intend doing some more upgrades- such as Headers, top etc.

If you truly want a CAI, get one with a heat shield, or get one of those setups in which the cone replaces one of the high beams. I heard if it's in the engine bay, it just sucks in hot air from inside the bay, and you lose HP

without getting to scientific, an unboxed CAI should still suck in cold air if positioned correctly. You have the force of the air coming in through the grill at colder temp (and lower density) so should create an interfacial barrier i.e. hot air unable to move to the front to be sucked back in. If an unboxed air intake was installed incorrectly and too far back into the engine bay, then I could say with 100% confidence that it wouldn't work and would suck in hot air.

Another problem, the K&N does replace the high beam light, from what I can tell, which will probably cause a defect problem here in Australia.